Scheduling Schedules

I’m going into a mild panic because for about the tenth time this month (Is it really only April 6th?) I have failed to merge all of my calenders.

Yesterday, my husband and children were out of town allowing me some highly desired personal time. I was indeed quite pleased to see that my family schedule meshed well with my personal schedule. It was perfect timing for my 12 mile run.

I spent some delightful time at work looking at the local forest preseve maps picking out which trail I would take. Finally, I settled on a 6.8 mile portion of Wauponsee Glacial Trail. Don’t let the name fool you. It’s as flat and boring as the day is long. It mostly runs through corn fields so there isn’t even any scenery to pass the time away.

Why would someone choose to take such a trail for an out and back 12 mile run? First, there aren’t many choices around here for scenery. It’s Illinois. Second, I have this bizarre theory. During my first half marathon in Chicago, there was a point when I quit running because I could not mentally grasp where I was or how far I had to go even though I had just crossed the ten mile marker. So, I think that if I am able to do all my LSDs on boring, mindless locations (dreadmill) and still have the drive to go further then I should be able to kill the Borgess Run For The Health of It in 2.5 weeks. Or, it’s just a heavy justification for being lame.

Regardless of the location or the scenery(lack of) I was stoked. I was going to run 12 miles in crushed limestone in my VFFs. I was even thinking about going all out and bare for a portion of it. I haven’t done any outdoor barefooting so I am looking forward to learning what I can and cannot handle.

It’s just that a half hour before I left work for my run that I remembered that I had a Cub Scout meeting. A meeting that I remembered thinking worked out well for me because the husband and kids would be out of town. Funny how the exact same set of circumstances worked out so well for two different events. It is understandable that I’d want to schedule each of them, it’s just that I forgot about the other.

In the end, Cub scouts won out because other people are affected by my attendance or absence. It sucks to have to put my running on the back burner but when I’m the only affected party then it is the way it is to be. I’d be bummed if I had to give up being a scout leader too.

So, it’s back to square 6 on the April planning calendar. When will I run my 12 miles? Today is the hubby’s birthday. So, not today. Thursday, we leave on vacation to visit friends in Ohio and won’t be back till Sunday afternoon. I can manage shorter runs on vacation but not 12 miles. Tomorrow? Maybe. Hopefully? With the family back home, I probably will have to run on the treadmill. That is intense mental training! (a.k.a. That sucks!)